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With a career that spans more than five decades in both public and private sectors, Jewel Willis built a growing business from the ground up. He played an important role in the timber industry, has been a consultant to private landowners and was a pioneer of hardwood forestry in Louisiana during the 1960s. His name might not be recognizable to some, but Willis helped mold the state’s forestry industry into what it is today.

Teachers look forward to summers, some for the days away from the classroom to relax and rejuvenate. For 36 educators, however, at least part of their summer was spent traipsing through forests, wetlands and mills to learn what they can about forestry.

Early in the 20th century, the practice of forestry in America was in its infancy. Its proponents were strong-willed men with a determined focus. Women were not and would not become involved in this male-dominated profession for decades. It was this environment in which Caroline Dormon became involved and aggressively pursued her interests.

In 1913, the U.S. Forest Service was still feeling the burn of the destructive fires that consumed nearly 3 million acres of timberland in Montana and Idaho three years earlier. Men were hired as fire fighters and lookouts in an effort to prevent more disastrous fires.

Fast forward to November, opening of deer gun season. You make it to your stand in the dark, load and wait for dawn. As light filters over the landscape shapes take form and several of the shapes have white tails. Your objective.

The period from 1900 to 1920 marked the “golden” era of lumbering in Louisiana; an era when the state’s old-growth forests were harvested with a “cut-out and get-out” attitude.
Large and small sawmills harvested these forests with no thought of reforestation. Many of these companies abandoned their cutover lands and ownership of them reverted to the state when taxes were not paid.

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Early in the 20th century, the practice of forestry in America was in its infancy. Its proponents were strong-willed men with a determined focus. Women were not and would not become involved in this m...

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